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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dental Work and ABR's

Yesterday was quite the day. We had to be at PCMC at 6:00am, so that Jason could get his cavities filled and his ABR done.

We had struggled with the idea of getting his ABR because we didn't want to knock him out for just a hearing test. But since he had to have cavities filled we figured we'd have his hearing checked at the same time.

Jason immediately ran to the fish tank as soon we got there. Of course he also banged on the glass so the fish all went and hid.=)

It really wasn't too bad of a wait but we were prepared. As a matter of fact that was the easiest we have ever had waiting for surgery. I guess we are learning.This was the first time that the staff as really paid attention to what we had to say about Jason and the Autism. First thing they put a sticker on his back instead of putting the band on his leg. Disaster diverted. Secondly the nurse just did the general vitals and left the throat checking alone.

One lady in the surgery waiting room asked if he was Autistic, after he had a major melt down and came over to slap me. There is just something that really makes him angry when you tell him he can't peel the stickers off things.

They also strongly recommended some Versed. So we went ahead and gave it to him. We also gave it to him in a different room this time, since I wasn't sure how he would take his medicine. The staff is also learning how to deal with my boy.

This picture is the affects of the Versed kicking in.

This is the obvious affects of the Versed. As you can see, he isn't moving much. =)Then they actually had us go into the OR with him. WEIRD! But since the only things we were having taken care of really could be done with out the sterilization of the OR I guess they weren't to concerned. Although the nurse said we were supposed to be in Bunny Suits. The Anesthesiologist said, "You're in Bunny Suits right?" It was weird to watch them put Jason to sleep. They said he would have some weird jerky movements as soon as he fell asleep. When that happened, I just thought he was being his stinker self and trying not to fall asleep. Funny, but true.

The Dentist either forgot about the procedure or just plain slept in. So they started with the ABR.

Then we went in the waiting room and ......... waited.

The dentist showed up and came into the waiting room just to let us know she was there. They were still performing the ABR so she said she would start as soon as they had finished up.

The Audiologist came out about 30 minutes later and pulled us into another room. She said that his ABR was difficult. SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE. (said in a Gomer Pile voice.) Nothing about Jason is easy. We had advised her that his right ear had never passed, but his left had at some point. She started on the right and started with the CLICKS, which showed normal reception. So she thought that was a good start. She then started the tones. She couldn't find any tone that was testing in the normal range. Finally she found the tone that tested normal and felt better. So according to this ABR the mid tones he can hear better, and the lower and higher tones he can't hear very well. His hearing loss according to this test is mild to moderate in the right ear. She then tested the left with the CLICKS and they came back normal. By then she had spent the whole hour trying to find out what the heck was going on with his right ear. With that craziness she wants to have us do another booth test to see what kind of result we can get with his left ear.

I asked her opinion on using a hearing aid in the right ear. She said she would use a loaner and see if he would take to it. If his left is normal she WOULD NOT aid that ear. With the Autism I'm not sure if he will take to the hearing aid. So we are going to see if the school for the deaf will let us borrow another aid and see what he does.

Then the dental procedure began. The little bugger had EIGHT cavities!!! One was so deep that it needed a crown. That will be one expensive dental bill.

I'm going to have to be more diligent in brushing his teeth. Hopefully he won't mind, because I also would like to keep my fingers.

They called me into the OR recovery room and he was really groggy. We did get him to wake up a couple of times, so we were able to get him over to the regular recovery room. Then they let Brett come back with us. Since Jason had the Versed the nurse advised letting him sleep it off. So our total time at the hospital was six hours. I crashed. Brett didn't. Brett was REALLY TIRED!

He finally woke up and immediately wanted the pulse-ox meter off his toe. He next went for his I.V. and then the name tag.He loved the wagon ride out to the car. I didn't expect him to actually sit still.When we got home, he was really tired and just laid down on the warm driveway.He's doing well today and has only felt the crown a few times. Hopefully we will be able to avert the cavities in the future.